Under Pressure: Trusting Jesus Beyond Comfort - May 17, 2026

You know, not too long ago, somebody asked me the question, what was the hardest job you had as a kid growing up? Now, they were barely done asking the question when I answered, picking watermelons. Now, you see, my uncle was a sixth generation farmer, so it wasn't a matter of if, but when. I started to pick watermelons, and that happened to be at the age of 12. Now, those first few years were rough because, you see, these weren't your stereotypical seedless watermelons you might find at Publix. These were your big seeded watermelons that would weigh between 30 and 40 pounds. Occasionally we get a 50 pounder out of there. So as I made mention, those first few years are rough. I still think I have some calluses on my chest from having to catch them that way. Now it started to get a little bit easier. And I said, you know what, I got the hang of this when I was 15 years old. So much so I got a promotion. And that promotion was bump man. So what the bump man did is he stood on the end of the row and you had the other field hands, they would stretch out, they picked the watermelons up, they toss them down the line. I would catch them at the end and I'd pick them up, throw them up to the guy packing the watermelons in the trailers being pulled through the field. I didn't mind it. My back didn't mind it. I didn't have to bend over as much. And the girls didn't mind it that much either. I got some pretty big biceps that summer. But you see, something that we would always dread is anytime we had to load semi trucks. Now, how this would work, a semi truck would pull in the field first thing in the morning. And in preparation for this, we'd spend the entire previous day loading every trailer we had. So, as I said, the semi would pull in first thing in the morning. Man, you open those doors, you see that empty trailer looked a mile long. So we'd start loading. We try to beat the heat. But what would happen is by around lunchtime, we'd unloaded all of our trailers from the previous day, and we're only about halfway done. Then after lunch, we had to go back out in the fields, load every wagon, every trailer, come back and finish loading the semi. Sometimes we're out there until 8, 9 o' clock at night. So something we'd always look forward to after loading these semi trucks was anytime we had the chance to pick cantaloupes. Now, cantaloupes are a lot smaller, average between three to five pounds, and they're so light, you can actually throw two at a time. On this particular day, we were taking a load up to a warehouse, and we're getting out of the trucks, and all of a sudden, this guy sitting on a forklift caught my eye. And the reason he caught my eye is he looked like Phil Robinson off of Duck Dynasty. The long ZZ Top beard. Now, that was before Duck Dynasty came out. So I remember thinking, man, this guy looks like he's fresh off the Civil War battlefield or something. Something. So we started unloading. We had our little assembly lines here. I was in this line, there's another line opposite of me. And as I said, you could throw two at a time. And then we had to count because you're putting 100 in a box. So you're in a pretty good rhythm right here. You got to pay attention to what you're doing. So anytime somebody had to go to the bathroom, you just step out, say, hey, I got to go to the bathroom. Just spread your line out a little bit wider. It's not a big deal. All of a sudden, this guy in the next line over had to go to the bathroom, and the guy with the long beard decided to step in. He was going to fill the gaps. I remember thinking, oh, that's nice of him. So I keep loading. Then all of a sudden, I sense and see mass panic and chaos. So I hold my finger up and say, hold on. I look over, the guy with the long beard is freaking out. He's panicking. My buddy who's next to him, he's panicking. And then I see why. You see, the guy with the long beard, he only had one arm. Now my buddy's panicking because he just threw two cantaloupes at a one armed man. Now what happened next I've yet to figure out to this day. And that is the one armed man tried to catch both cantaloupes. So we all know what happened next, right? Splat. Splat. Now, I'm no mind reader, but I imagine there's a few of you out there going, okay, how in the world is he gonna tie this story into a sermon? Well, here's how. If you've only got one arm and you see two cantaloupes coming your way, that's pressure. And pressure is something we all have to deal with. And it comes in many different forms and sizes. It's something our graduates are going to have to deal with even more as they step out into the real world. So today's message is entitled Under Pressure, Trusting Jesus Beyond Comfort. Now today we're going to be in Matthew chapter 14, starting in verse 22. So if you'll go ahead there and turn in your Bibles. And while you're turning there, I want to give a shout out and recognize our greeters. Let's go ahead and give them a hand. They do a great job, don't they? Now, one of their responsibilities is passing out bulletins. And there's an abundance of announcements and upcoming events in there on one side, and then on the other side you actually have a note outline. So this in mind, I want to share some statistics and research with you on memory and retention. So if you're paying attention and you want to remember what you're hearing but you're not writing it down, research says you're going to forget up to 50% of it after one hour. That's if you're trying to remember after 24 hours, that increases to 70%. After three days, you can forget up to 90% of what you heard. And that's if you want to remember it. So my challenge this morning is whether it be the bulletin, your own notepad, the Bible app, an iPad, taking pictures of the screen, take some type of notes. That way you can reflect on it throughout the week and then apply it. So don't be like my wife and forget 90% of what I say. Okay? So with that in mind, let's jump right into the scripture. Again. We're in Matthew, chapter 14, verse 22. So you all follow along with me as I read aloud, please. Immediately he made the disciples get to the boat and go before him to the other side while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to Pray. When evening came, he was there alone. But the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night, that's between 3 and 6am he came to them walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, it's a ghost. And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid. And Peter answered him, lord, if it's you, command me to come to you on the water. He said, come. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink. He cried out, lord, save me. Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, him, o you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got to the boat, the wind ceased and those in the boat worshiped him, saying, truly, you are the Son of God. Now, this morning, I've got an acrostic for you, and it's the word press. We're obviously playing off the word pressure. Your first letter is, pressure will come. Pressure will come. You see, Jesus tells us so in John 16:33. Here on Earth, you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. You see, oftentimes we don't choose the trials, sorrows and pressures that arrive unannounced. But we do get to choose how we respond. As Mike Tyson once said. Yes, the Mike Tyson, the boxer. You probably never thought you'd hear a quote from him in church, but here you go. Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. In this particular case of the disciples, their trial and form of pressure was the storm. What's it for you? For our graduates, it could be school or their career choices could be your job, your family, your friends, or even your health. Whatever it is, remember who God is and what he has done. Remember who God is and what he has done. Now, a few years ago, I had the blessing and privilege of baptizing my oldest son, Lincoln, when he was 8 years old. We had some family come and watch. And after the service, one of them went to Lincoln and said, hey, you did a good job up there, but were you nervous? And he said, you know, yeah, I was actually really scared. You know, I got down into the water and I looked out and I saw all those people. I got really scared. But then I remembered my dad was with me and I wasn't afraid anymore. But you see, when I heard him say that, I was actually convicted. And the reason being is I was reminded of how often I've forgotten my heavenly Father and what he's done for me in times of pressure. Now, the Bible is full of reminders. But one I'd like to share with you this morning is found in Isaiah, chapter 41, verse 13. It says, For I hold you by your right hand, I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, don't be afraid. I'm here to help you. You see, Peter, remember what Jesus had done. That's why he said, lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water. And Jesus answered with one word, come. But would Peter endure with faith? Would Peter endure with faith? We all know what happened next. As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he walked on water. Now before we analyze what happens next, we need to give Peter's props. Now here's what I mean by that. Was it just Peter on the boat? No, all the disciples were on the boat. All 12 of them. But of the 12, which one had enough faith to get out of the boat? Peter, think back to what Jesus said in the scripture we just read you of little faith. He didn't say no faith, you of little faith. But of all 12, only one had enough faith to get out of the boat. And that's Peter. The other thing is this. There's only been two people to ever walk on water. That's Jesus himself and then Peter. So now that we've given Peter his props, let's unpack. What happens next? He takes his eyes off of Jesus. Now pay attention to this point. This is what I want to hammer here. He takes his eyes off of Jesus and focuses on what he cannot control. He takes his eyes off Jesus and focuses on what he can't control. The wind, the waves. And when he does, he begins to sink. But here's my question. How often do we do the same? You see, more times than not, it's a gradual slide because what we call and consider control, God calls and considers a lack of trust. Now you see, I fell into this trap in my previous job. Many of you know I used to be a head football coach and school administrator for many years before I accepted the call to full time ministry. And part of a football coach's job is breaking film down and a lot of it. Now each high school game has approximately 125 plays. Games, give or take. And I go through and I watch our team first and it's not just one play and you're off to the next one. You got to do it multiple times, position by position. What do we do wrong? What do we need to work on? What do we need to fix? What do we need to hide from our opponent next week? As far as weaknesses, Then you get your opponent's film, all right? What formations do they run? What's their strengths? What their weaknesses? What can we attack them with? Then you get into practice later in the week. Then you got to go over injury scenarios, all right? If our quarterback gets hurt, we got to take our slot receiver, move him to quarterback. Then we got to take a corner off a defense, put him at receiver, which means he may have to go both ways. He's got to learn the plays, and on top of that, he's got to be conditioned. Then you go to my day job. Then I was the direct supervisor for all instructional personnel. Did discipline for the entire school, roughly 500 kids, and did operations. All that to say, I got used to being in control of things. But, you see, it got to the point where if I wasn't control of things, I started to get uncomfortable. But you know what else is uncomfortable? Faith is oftentimes uncomfortable because you have to surrender that control, and you have to trust. But, you see, it wasn't just at work where this control was. I'll give you an example. In my home life now, I've had the same wallet for 20 years. It's broken. It fits just right. But you see, on top of that, I've got my cards, all my stuff in a location where I know where it is. In all honesty, I grab my eyes closed, I even got them turned a certain way. One day, Laura, my wife, had to borrow my debit card for something. It's not a big deal. But then a few hours later, I had to go to pay for something. I open it up. I'm going, where's my debit card? Then I find it at the top. She put it in the wrong slot, and it's turned the wrong way. So I say. So I say, hey, Laura, I don't mind if you use my debit card, but if you do, it goes right here. Turn this way. Now, to all you men in here, you know what happened next. Next, I got what we call the look. All right? Hey, Colby. Clayton, I know you know what it is, brother. I seen Kerry give it to you, man. Now, after getting to look for a few seconds, she says, colby, you're ocd. And so I said to myself, I Got to do something to disarm her here. So I say thank you. I disarmed her, all right? Because the look of the look changed to a look of confusion. And she goes, why would you say thank you? And I said, because you said I was ocd. And I am one cool dude. Now, getting back to real talk, I had lost focus, and I had to get it back. So how do we stay focused? How do we stay focused? With this in mind, I like to share one of my hobbies with you that has to do with focus. And that hobby is deer hunting. There's two times of the day we're more apt to see deer. That's a sunrise. And then right before sunset, afternoon and evening. Now, of these two particular times, the one I enjoy going out the most in is the morning. Okay? It's quiet, it's cool, it's crisp. You get to see the sun come up, the birds wake up. It's nature at its finest. But when I was young and started going hunting by myself, for the first couple of times, something called gray light would always take my focus away. And what gray light is, is right before the sun comes up, you can see a little bit. It's mostly shadows. And as everything looks gray, hence the name gray light. But during this, I'd be looking out straight with my eyes. I'm going, oh, man, look at that big buck over there on that tree line. And look at the horns on that thing. Then I'd look over here. Oh, man, that's a big body deer coming out. Then I'd hear noise behind me. There's a deer walking behind me. You know what happened? 20 minutes later, the sun come up. That big buck I saw over here, it's a tree branch. Then you got this big body deer. It was a bush. The deer walking behind me was a squirrel. But then after the sun would come up, here comes a deer walking out as plain as day, what it is. You get your gun up, you look through that scope, and you're locked in. And all those things that took away my focus, the distractions, they're thrown by the wayside, and I'm focused on what I came to do. But you see, one of the things we have to do to get back in focus is to analyze ourselves. In that hunting scenario, I went back and analyzed my actions and made sure I didn't make the same mistakes again. Hebrews 12:1 alludes to this saying, therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles angles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Now, you see, one of the best ways to handle pressure is to stay ready. For you don't have to get ready. And one of the best ways to do this is by spending time with God. Now, with this in mind, I want to share some statistics with you that we shared with the youth not too long ago, so y' all don't ruin it over there. About social media Media it was how much time the average teen spends on social media. In all honesty, the results were alarming. Says the average teen spends anywhere from four to six hours a day on social media. Four to six hours a day. Of those teens who are believers, only one out of four reads their Bible on a daily basis. So if you're spending up to six hours a day comparing yourself with others and not spending time with your Creator, not only are you not staying ready, that's a recipe for disaster. So by all forms, comparison can be a form of pressure. But remember this about comparison. It's a thief of joy. Comparison is a thief of joy. Now, moving along, our next letter is the letter S, and we're to seek growth through trials. Seek growth through trials. After Peter began to sink, he cried out, and immediately Jesus grabbed him and said, you have little faith. Why did you doubt? And when they entered the boat, the storm stopped and the disciples worshiped him, saying, truly, you are the Son of God. Now, can you imagine all the growth the disciples experienced through this trial? So how can we apply this to our lives? We can start by changing our perspective. By all intents and purposes, the disciples failed. But you know what I've come to find out? Out of all the teachers I've ever had in my life, failure has been one of the greatest. Failure has been one of my greatest teachers. So instead of quitting when we face pressure or experience failure, ask yourself how you can grow from it. How can you get better? What can we learn? Now, one of the classes our graduates have taken in grade school, it may take again in college, is literature. So this morning I'm going to share one of the few stories I can remember from when I was their age in literature class. It took place in rural North Carolina in the 1940s, and it was summertime and they were experiencing a severe drought, very similar to what we've been experiencing here late lately. Being it was summertime, school was out and there was a group of boys who were around middle school age that wanted to go swimming. But being it was the 1940s in rural North Carolina. They didn't have a bunch of swimming pools around. So if you wanted to go swimming, you had to go to a lake or a pond. On this particular day, these boys decided they were going to go swimming at a local pond. In order to get to it, they had to jump over barbed wire fence. Now one of these middle school age boys had a little brother that was trying to keep up. Elementary aged. So the older boys got over the fence, no problem. But then little brother trying to keep up gets his pants snapped in the fence. He starts yelling out, hey, somebody help me, I'm stuck. Older boys just turn around, laugh, and they keep running off. So he finally gets out of the fence, he starts getting closer to the pond. He hears a commotion. He's going, man, they didn't even wait on me to get to the water. Then when he gets up to the water, he locks eyes with his brother. His brother yells out, stop. And he starts to walk out of the water. When he does, he's got over half a dozen water moccasins attached to him. You see what had happened during this severe drought. A lot of the water in the area had dried up and all the water moccasins in this area flocked to this one pond that still had water. And these middle school aged boys in their excitement ran and jumped in the water without looking. Every single one of them died that day from snake bites, except the little brother who got caught in the fence. Here's why I'm telling you this story. Not one of those boys woke up that morning thinking that would be their last day. But you know what? None of us know that. None of us know when our numbers going to be called. So don't put off what you can do today. We've been talking a whole lot about pressure and how to handle it. You see, as I said in the first one, pressure will come. It's a part of life. But it's a whole lot easier to deal with when you got a firm foundation of Jesus Christ you're standing on.